Amid Trump climate turmoil, France to push stability in India talks

Steven Clarke

Buildings in cities from Boston to Paris lit up in green that night to show support for the agreement and a commitment to battling climate change. According to the statement via LinkedIn, Microsoft has been a headstrong supporter to the Paris Agreement since its initiation in 2015.

A day after President Trump announced the USA would exit the Paris climate accord, top administration officials wouldn't say whether the president believes global warming is real.

The agreement was a hard-fought achievement and Trump's move has now put the United States at loggerheads with the 195 countries that joined the agreement to help ensure the protection of the Earth's environment for future generations.

"If a mayor or a governor wants to enact a policy that's, on a range of issues, they're accountable to their own voters and that's what they should do", White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters Friday.

"People have called me a climate skeptic or a climate denier", Pruitt continued.

Almost 200 countries have ratified the Paris agreement. And I think that - what the debate - what the American people deserve is a debate, objective, transparent discussion about this issue. In the African country of Mali, many see global warming as the reason for a protracted drought. "Even if the United States no longer participates in climate agreements, it can not afford to cede climate knowledge to overseas competitors".

Trump's announcement comes less than 18 months after the climate pact was adopted, the fruit of a hard-fought agreement between Beijing and Washington under Obama's leadership.

Trump suggested the possibility of renegotiating the agreement but the leaders of Italy, Germany and France said that was not possible.

Responding to Trump's pointing to his city, Pittsburgh, Mayor Bill Peduto called the decision "disastrous for our planet, for cities such as Pittsburgh", and a step that "has made America weaker and the world less safe".

Bloomberg's donation will make up for the U.S.'s contribution to the U.N.'s Climate Secretariat, which aids countries in implementing the agreement.

Trump's move was "a big mistake", said Donald Tusk, one of the European Union's top officials. "In order to send a signal to the worldwide community, and to uphold our obligations to current and future generations, we encourage you to continue to aggressively address the threat of climate change and abide by this global effort", the lawmakers wrote in the letter.

The rejection of the agreement has of course been met with rebukes from other world leaders and climate change experts.

In an interview with The New York Times in November, after the election, President Trump was asked repeatedly whether he meant to leave the Paris accord and appeared to have a new open-mindedness.

Scientists say every fraction of a degree change in average temperatures can lead to noticeable swings in local weather patterns, although consequences are hard to predict.

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